Mashreads sat down with the author to chat about his the inspirations behind his novel, and what it took to create one of the YA world’s biggest current hits

There’s a reason Zentner wanted to write for teenagers

“I volunteered for the past five years at Tennessee Teen Rock Camp and Southern Girls Rock Camp…. We just toss [the kids] together and they come up with some crazy music. And at the end of the week they put on a showcase at some big venue in Nashville, some place that touring bands play. It’s really, really cool.